Perry still seeking traction in S.C.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. — Rick Perry didn’t draw many diehards to his events here Friday, but he did fill a few rooms with undecided voters.

The problem for Perry: They walked away from the event just as undecided.

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Perry is finishing his first week of an all-out push to revive his candidacy in the state’s Jan. 21 primary here, but so far, he hasn’t generated much traction or momentum. He’s sticking to a consistent message — he’s led an improving economy in Texas, he’s commanded the state’s National Guard troops, he’ll push for stronger border security and approval the Keystone XL pipeline project.

And most of all: He’s an outsider ready to take on President Barack Obama and, once elected, to step on toes and veto bills to bring his brand of change to Washington.

“I look forward to getting on the stage with Barack Obama and contrast the two-plus million jobs that he’s killed versus the one million jobs we’ve created in the state of Texas,” Perry said. “I look forward to standing up and quizzing him a great deal.”

“[Mitt] Romney cannot make that contrast,” he said, referring to the former Massachusetts governor who’s leading state polls.

That’s the contrast that was on the mind of Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), a Perry supporter who traveled with the Texas governor Friday.

“The worst thing that could happen to us as conservatives, as Republicans, this year would be to lose the presidency, a close second would be to have someone who is not willing to do what it takes,” Mulvaney told voters at a midday campaign stop in Bluffton.

And so Mulvaney urged the crowd to consider his candidate based not on his debate performances but on “the real Rick Perry … you see and hear today when you look him in the eye.”

They left still looking.

“He didn’t persuade me,” said Joe Brinson, of James Island, who said he’s torn between Perry, Newt Gingrich and a candidate who’s out of the race but still on the ballot — Herman Cain.

He wasn’t the only one.

“Nothing he said made me decide to vote for him, but I could, depending on what I hear from the others,” said Bluffton local Bonnie Dreyer as she left the Squat ’N Gobble restaurant.

Even voters leaning toward Perry don’t leave his events locked in.

“Perry’s the most conservative of the Republican candidates and that’s what matters to me. I’m far right,” said Brian Swan, of Charleston.

But as to whether he’ll vote for Perry, Swan said he’s “not sure.”

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to dethrone Obama, and that might not be voting for him,” Swan said.